Vegetable boxes are a major part of the EcoRuralis schemes which can generate €15,000 a year for some families.

The spokesman said that preserving family farming is of particular relevance in Romania, as 60 per cent of the population is rural.

This is mostly taken up by subsistence agriculture, although he revealed that 1.2 million family farms are commercial.

“We refer to them as peasant farmers and we are proud to be peasants in Romania,” he explained.

Eluding to Romania’s communist past, he warned that agricultural cooperatives represented an ideological challenge, but that family farms will persist due to durability.

“Family farms survive through struggles because they know how to adapt and diversify,” he explained.

The importance of widening farmer demographics to include more women and younger people was discussed by Helenna Jonsson, President of the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF).

Citing Sweden as an example, she explained how women can be empowered through agriculture to strengthen the family farm nucleus.

While acknowledging cultural differences across the world, she said that communication is important to address the objectives and desires of women in agriculture.

She explained that Sweden was ahead of much of the EU in the equality stakes, stating that the LRF board had a 50:50 representation of male and female members and had also grown in young members.

As to how this can be achieved elsewhere, she said: “Member states must provide support for assisting spouses as well as the head of the farm. Social benefit contributions and taxation will be needed.”

This is vital in husband/wife or sister/brother partnerships, she added.

Mrs Jonsson said that male farmers have a disproportionate dominance in decision making and representation - women do a lot but are practically ‘invisible’.